The Bachelor's Sean Lowe Blogs About Hometown Dates

Sean Lowe is the star of season 17 of The Bachelor, which airs Mondays on ABC. The hunky Dallas businessman and entrepreneur is blogging about his romantic journey for PEOPLE.com.

I was eager to start my week of hometown dates on The Bachelor. As hard as it was to say goodbye to Leslie at the rose ceremony in St. Croix, I was very confident that the remaining four women were the best for me.

I started my week in Houston with AshLee and her parents. She had been a frontrunner from the beginning because she was the type of woman I was looking for: loving, compassionate, sweet and nurturing. My only reservations were about AshLee's intensity and her inability to let loose and have fun.

After meeting her parents, I could see where her big heart comes from. Her mom and dad were both so kind and loving and I could tell they genuinely wanted their daughter to be happy. It was easy to imagine myself being part of her family. Despite not being as fun and carefree as the other women, AshLee's big heart and desire to love made me overlook it.

Catherine

I never wanted to say goodnight to Catherine. We always had a good time together and being around her was so easy and natural. I was thrilled to see her in at home in Seattle. We had so much fun walking through Pike's Place Market and I loved seeing her favorite spots. But meeting Catherine's family was pretty intimidating! They seemed skeptical about me and I'm not sure they believed that this could work.

Her sisters also told me that Catherine had a strong desire to pursue a career in New York and that she may not be ready to settle down. I found it strange that they were telling me this, yet Catherine had never mentioned it. I'm all for supporting her dreams, but I wished she'd shared those dreams with me.

I left Seattle knowing that I had a desire to be with Catherine, but just wasn't sure if our lives aligned.

Lindsay

Meeting Lindsay's family was something I had been thinking about for quite some time. Her father is a two-star general, but I was more eager to meet her mom. Lindsay has such strength and had been so supportive – and I knew she got that from her mom.

Both parents were great. Her dad was not the intimidating figure I imagined, and her mother was so warm and welcoming. My favorite member of Lindsay's family may have been her brother Marcus. He was the sweetest kid I've ever met and he made it clear he wanted me to be a part of their family.

I was amazed at how well I fit in. They were so similar to my family and I felt so comfortable in their home. The girl in the wedding dress was now a clear frontrunner who had stolen my heart.

Desiree

Every time Desiree spoke of her family, she would get very emotional. It was easy to see how much she loved them and how badly she wanted what her parents have. The whole "boyfriend" coming to the house totally fooled me.

In hindsight I should have seen it coming, but I totally bought it. At one moment I was almost positive I was going to have to throw the guy out or I was going to have to throw myself out because maybe Des wanted to be with him instead of me. I was relieved and pretty embarrassed to find out it was all a joke. Des definitely got me back for punking her on the art gallery date.

I finally got to meet her family and I absolutely fell in love with her mom and dad. They were possibly the sweetest people I had ever met and they were so accepting of me and my relationship with Des. Her brother was a different story though. I'm still confused as to what led her brother to call me a playboy and a fake. He decided to attack my character and integrity and I honestly don't know what provoked him.

Regardless, he doesn't know me and he sure as hell can't speak to my integrity. As badly as I wanted to go off on him, I had to hold back because I didn't want to cause a huge scene and embarrass Des and her parents. Her brother didn't affect the way I looked at Des, but it did make me wonder if I could be in the same family as her brother.

'Excruciating' Rose Ceremony

I walked into the rose ceremony not knowing who was going home. I felt confident in giving a rose to AshLee and Lindsay, but I had questions about Des and Catherine. In the end, I gave the rose to Catherine over Des because I couldn't picture saying goodbye to Catherine yet.

Saying goodbye to Des was awful. She was telling me I was a making a mistake and I was starting to believe her. I wasn't ready to see her go, but I knew if I kept her I'd have to send someone else home in her place and I wasn't prepared to do that. It was an excruciating, confusing and emotional night, and I was just praying that I wouldn't regret my decision.